The cost of war in Mindanao

CHEERS TO Rappler.com for taking a closer look at the history and cost of war in Mindanao from the administration of Ferdinand Marcos to that of Benigno Aquino III.

Rappler.com published “From Marcos to Aquino: The cost of war in Mindanao” on Oct. 8, 2015. The news story included a four-minute video on the 40-year-old armed struggle in the south. The video focused on the history of the war in the restive provinces of Mindanao, recalled several attempts at a peace agreement, and discussed the ongoing peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The same news story presented an infographic of the cost of war per administration starting from that of Marcos.

According to the report, the economic cost of war in Mindanao during the Marcos regime (1969 to 1986) totaled Php288.4 billion. Between 60,000 and 80,000 died in the conflict. Php105 billion was the economic cost during the Corazon Aquino administration (1986 to 1992), with 128 dead, including 66 members of Moro National Liberation Front, two members of the MILF, and 60 soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Php98.3 billion was the economic cost during Fidel V. Ramos’s administration (1992 to 1998), with as many as 450 deaths recorded. It cost Php55.9 billion during the Joseph Estrada administration (1998 to 2001), with between as many as 1,700 deaths. Php503.09 million was the cost during the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration, with 1,859 deaths, and Php39.1 billion during the present administration, with 649 dead.